The Lycan Chronicles
by mandalay-bay
Summary: In 1971 Professor Albus Dumbledore allowed a boy called Remus Lupin to attend Hogwarts. This is his story and the story of his fellow Marauders: Sirius, James and Peter. SLASH SBRL
1. Sorting Things Out

Disclaimer: I am, unfortunately, not J.K. Rowling and therefore I do not own any of the characters in the Harry Potter world. I am not earning any money from this either and I don't have any money so… no need to sue me.

Pairings: Sirius x Remus (that's slash so don't like it then don't read it), James x Lily

Summary: In 1971 Professor Albus Dumbledore allowed a boy called Remus Lupin to attend Hogwarts. This is his story and the story of his fellow Marauders: Sirius, James and Peter. They all learn new lessons through their seven years, some of those lessons were taught in a classroom.

ONE: Sorting Things Out

It was a large and beautiful, circular room, but the young boy did not notice, he was too busy keeping a tight grip on the hand of the woman beside him and peering nervously at the bearded man who was seated behind an enormous, claw-footed desk.

"Please take a seat," the man said and, with a flourish of his wand, two comfortable looking armchairs popped into position in front of his desk.

Although the woman was initially startled she quickly regained composure and ushered the small boy towards the largest, and fluffiest, of the two armchairs. She then ignored the other armchair and decided instead to stand beside the boy, his hand still in hers and her other free hand lying reassuringly on his shoulder.

"Mrs Lupin is it?" said the man whilst flicking away the vacant armchair with his wand. The woman nodded in reply. "And this is your son Remus?" She nodded again. "As you know I am Professor Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now I hear you wish to inquire upon whether your son is able to attend this school?"

Mrs Lupin nodded once more and opened her mouth to respond but Professor Albus Dumbledore waved a hand to indicate that he was not finished.

"Your son did receive an admittance letter, did he not?" he continued.

"Yes he did," said Mrs Lupin.

"And is he not eleven years of age?"

"Yes he is, Professor Dumbledore."

"Please call me Albus," he said. He was smiling now, and it was such a warm smile that Mrs Lupin found herself smiling back. "So what is the problem?"

Mrs Lupin hesitated, "my son, you see, has an… illness, of sorts and-" she stopped and looked anxiously up at the kindly face in front of her.

"Yes I have heard of young Remus' condition," Dumbledore said, and glanced towards the boy who was now staring at his toes. "Lycanthropy is a fateful affliction that cannot yet be cured." Mrs Lupin let off a small sob at these. "But it does not mean that the afflicted should not be allowed a proper education." The boy now stopped staring at his shoes and stared up at Dumbledore instead.

"But how will you stop him from…" Mrs Lupin began.

"Passing on his ailment to others?" Dumbledore said helpfully.

"Yes." agreed Mrs Lupin.

"Well we have made a few precautions to insure the safety of _every_ student." He smiled his warm smile, "I'm sure you and your son would like to hear them all, Mrs Lupin."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Platform 9 ¾ was always the busiest platform in all of King's Cross Station on the first day of September. Nevertheless the majority of the people in London did not know this fact and, strangely enough, did not know such a platform as Platform 9 ¾ existed. The people who did, however, were now making there way towards it. Most of them were children, aged between eleven and seventeen, and young Remus Lupin was one of those children.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eye and surveyed the people around him. His mother was gently pushing him through the crowd of laughing children and squawking pets and right up to the side of the red, puffing steam-train. She planted a soft kiss on his cheek and made a show of checking he had everything with him, her eyes slightly wet with tears.

"Now remember if anything happens, anything at all, you must go and-"

"Tell a teacher," finished Remus, "I know Mum."

Mrs Lupin looked her son up and down with concern. He had dark circles around his eyes and his skin was unhealthily pale, he was obviously still tired.

"Are you sure you're ready to go today?" she asked, "You don't need to if you don't want. I could always ask Professor Dumbledore if you could start tomorrow. I'm sure he won't mind."

Remus shook his head and smiled up at his mother in what he hoped was a comforting way, "No Mum I'm fine," he said, "and anyway I could always get some sleep on the train."

As if on cue the train gave a loud whistle and the booming voice of the conductor yelled, "All Aboard". Remus quickly heaved his heavy trunk on the train and turned back to his mother who was holding back tears. She gave him one more kiss and a tight hug before saying goodbye and getting swept away by the other children all pushing and shoving to get onboard.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"So dear cousin, it is your first time on the Hogwart's Express yes?" drawled a teenage girl with blonde hair and piercing cerulean eyes. She was talking to a younger boy who had jet-black hair, the total opposite to that of the girl's, but blue eyes just like those of his cousin.

"Obviously it is Narcissa," he answered in the same drawl, "my mother told you that already."

"Don't talk like that to someone your elder, Sirius Black," Narcissa said, giving him a distasteful look, "I thought your mother would have told you _that_ already."

The boy called Sirius rolled his eyes in a way that didn't suit an eleven-year-old child and said, "I think I'll find my own compartment, _dear cousin_." With that he turned away and strode down the length of the train corridor. He could hear Narcissa droning voice in the background but he ignored it and carried on walking, peeking every now and then in compartments to see whether there was a free space. Unfortunately they were all full, or at least the ones that didn't have intimidating upper years in them were.

Finally it got the last compartment; there was a small gap in the sliding door and Sirius peered in to find it empty except for one sandy-haired boy whose eyes were closed. He slid the door further open and stepped inside, only to be forced forward by another person behind him.

"Sorry about that," said a cheerful voice. When Sirius turned to look at the owner of the voice he found it was another boy about the same age as himself with messy black hair and round spectacles. The boy was grinning from ear to ear, but not in a way that said, "haha I nearly made you fall" but in a way that suggested the boy had no other expression but those of happiness. Sirius couldn't help but like him and grin back.

"No, it's okay," he said in response.

The boy with spectacles observed the compartment and raised an eyebrow at the sandy-haired boy. "Is he asleep?" he asked.

"Probably," said Sirius shrugging, "but this compartment's practically the only that isn't full so…"

"Think we should wake him?" the spectacled boy said, staring at the other boy curiously.

"He looks pretty tired," replied Sirius, sitting down opposite the sleeping child, "We should let him rest."

"Okay," said the spectacled boy agreeably, and he plonked himself next to Sirius. "I'm James Potter, by the way," he said holding out his hand.

"Sirius," said Sirius, taking the boy's hand.

The sound of laughter woke Remus up from his slumber. Before him were two boys he had never seen before; one had neat, obsidian-black hair and blue eyes, the other also had black hair but it was a mess and he wore spectacles, they were both already in their school robes. After a few seconds they noticed him watching them and, realising this, Remus receded slightly away.

"Hey," said the spectacled boy jovially, "Sirius and I were about to wake you. The conductor said we'll be at Hogwarts soon and you need to change into your robes."

The other boy, Sirius, nodded and smirked. "Had a nice nap?"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The once empty classroom was bustling with activity. Frantic high-pitched voices talked incessantly about this 'Sorting' thing that was suppose to sort all the first years into their houses. Remus hoped he didn't have to be very alert for it. What if it was something he couldn't do because of his condition? Will he not be sorted? Will he end up having to go back home and disappoint his mother?

"Don't worry Remus," said the spectacled boy next to him, he had introduced himself as James not too long ago, "It isn't supposed to be that bad. Someone did say we had to duel a banshee though."

The blue-eyed Sirius laughed and said, "I heard it was a werewolf." Remus nearly choked on his own spit.

He was being patted on the back by James when the strict-looking Professor McGonagall herded them all ahead and started shouting out orders like "no talking please", "single file everyone", and "follow me". She led them into a great hall with a ceiling higher than infinity that showed the sky, four grand tables where other students watched them, and one high table where the staff were seated. But nowhere could he see a banshee and the only werewolf there was the one walking uneasily in his shoes. As he drew nearer to the front of the hall, however, he saw a battered and ragged hat and as Professor McGonagall halted the procession of first years it did the oddest thing, it started to sing.

Narcissa Black watched her cousin as the Sorting Hat was placed over his head, and she scowled. There was something wrong with that child; he held the air of a Black like an expert, especially for his age, but he was yet… unnerving. She sighed and ignored whatever was jabbing those thoughts into her, it was not her problem. She had no more time to ponder when the hat's mouth ripped open once again and yelled:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table burst in applause, which was lucky because at that precise time Narcissa had let out a scream of enragement. The rest of the Slytherin table gaped at her and Lucius Malfoy, her soon-to-be betrothed, asked what all the other Slytherins were thinking, "Isn't he your cousin?"

Sirius walked in somewhat of a daze towards the Gryffindor house table. He was clapped on the back by some random fifth year as he walked past and two sixth years shook his hand. It was not until he sat down did he completely understand what had just happened. He had been sorted into Gryffindor, and his mother was going to **kill** him.

"Kirke, Belen" was sorted into Ravenclaw and Professor McGonagoll looked further down the list then announced, "Lupin, Remus".

Remus made his way shakily up towards the Sorting Hat and sat upon the stool, his hands shaking. The Sorting Hat was far too big for him and fell down below his eyes so he could no longer see the Great Hall.

"So Remus Lupin," said a gruff voice, coming from what seemed like the hat itself, "you have a secret young Lupin."

Remus did not reply and hoped that whatever the hat chose to do, he had assumed the gruff voice belonged to the hat, it would have nothing to do with revealing who he really was.

"I will not tell your secret," the hat said as if reading his mind, which it probably did, "but you must be cautious with whom _you _tell your secret to."

"I will," Remus whispered, trying his best to move his mouth as little as possible.

"Good because I suspect in Hogwarts you will find great friends as well as great foes," the hat replied, "I see that with a mind like yours and what your heart stores that you should be in-"

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat bellowed aloud.


	2. First Year At Hogwarts

In this chapter, and probably ones following it, there are characters and pieces of information from Half-Blood Prince. However I don't think there are any massive spoilers so you slow readers can rest easy.

-8-

-8-

**TWO: FIRST YEAR AT HOGWARTS**

The Gryffindor common room gave off a warm and welcoming aura as soon as you stepped, or tripped as the case may be for Peter Pettigrew, inside. It was a lot different than the grand and stony architecture of the Hogwarts halls and corridors. To the right of the entrance - a hidden hole behind a portrait of a particularly beefy lady - was a large, glowing fireplace with squashy sofas and armchairs situated in a semicircle around it. To the left was what appeared to be a study area with a row of elegant, mahogany desks. Randomly strewn around the common room were more desks and sofas, all arranged in a disorderly, pleasant mishmash. It was the happiest room Peter had ever seen.

Edelmar Bell, the fifth year Prefect who had clapped all the first years on the back at the welcoming feast, reminded them of the password ("Remember, it's _Conscendo_") and directed the girl's through one door and the boys through another. Peter followed a sandy-haired boy with the tired eyes up a spiral staircase and finally to his dormitory. The room, although just as stony as the rest of Hogwarts, was surprisingly cosy and it made Peter feel as if he had found the second happiest room in his lifetime. He was glad to see his trunk was already there at the end of one of the red and gold, four-poster beds, along with three other trunks at the end of three other beds.

"I don't know you yet," said a cheerful voice coming from Peter's right. It belonged to a grinning boy with a mop of black hair and spectacles. "I'm James." He took Peter's hand and shook it with joyful enthusiasm.

"I'm Sirius," said a handsome boy who was leaning against one of the bedposts, smirking, "and Sleepy over there is Remus," he concluded, waving hand nonchalantly in the general direction of the boy with sandy hair. Remus looked up at the mention of his name and said a speedy and sheepish "Hey".

"Peter," Peter said lastly and was soon bombarded with more shaking hands and words along the lines of "Bloody nice room, isn't it?" and "I can see the Forbidden Forest from here. That is one big, scary-looking willow." The Remus boy hadn't spoken since the small greeting, unless you count a coughing fit as delightful conversation.

-8-

"What's the first lesson?" Sirius asked as he prodded his porridge with his spoon.

"Potions," said Remus instantly without even looking at his timetable.

James laughed and poked Remus in the side, "memorized the timetable already Remy? That's pretty organized. Better than Peter anyway, we've been here nearly a week and he still doesn't remember the Gryffindor password."

Peter blushed and made a small noise of protest that sounded like "it's difficult for some people" but James ignored him.

"It doesn't hurt to be prepared," Remus answered, "unless, of course, I get poked for it." He smiled up at his new companions, James continued to laugh, Sirius smirked and Peter let out a titter of amusement.

At that moment a plethora of owls had arrived through the large windows of the Great Hall carrying the morning post. Three of them landed in front of James, Sirius and Remus and dropped three envelopes with the Hogwarts crest stamped in the upper right-hand corner. James and Sirius looked at each other, then looked down at the owls, who had helped themselves to some of Sirius' abandoned porridge before taking flight again, and then the envelopes. In unison they both picked up the envelope addressed to them and opened it gingerly. Peter glanced over James' shoulder and, with James' consent, read the short note inside it.

_Master James Potter,_

_I would be delighted if you would join me for a quick chat in the Potions classroom before your lessons._

_Sincerely, Professor H.E.F. Slughorn_

"What does yours say Sirius?" Peter asked after he finished reading James' note.

Sirius peeked over James' shoulder and nodded in a knowing way. "The same thing," he replied, "what about you Remus? Same thing?"

Remus looked up, he had looked confused and spaced out, but he shook his head as if to rid himself of the clutter within it. "Um, yeah… same thing," he said quietly as he stood up in a sort of daze and picked up his book bag, "I have to go."

James grabbed hold of Remus' sleeve before he had a chance to leave the table, "no need to be too eager," he said, "Sirius and I are going too remember?"

Remus shook his head again, muttered something about having to see Dumbledore as well, pulled his sleeve out of James' grasp, and walked off.

"Odd," James said as he watched Remus leave, "think his letter did say the same thing?"

"Doubt it," Sirius said, he was getting ready to go.

"Where are _you_ off to?" James questioned suspiciously.

"To go see Professor Slughorn," was the reply.

"Wait, aren't we going to see what Remus is up to?" James asked, standing up along with Sirius.

"Why?"

"Aren't you curious?"

"A bit."

"And…?"

"We need to see Slughorn."

James sighed and pulled a face of utter loss. It was only a few seconds, however, until his features change and his eyes lit up with mirth, he whisked around to face Peter, nearly knocking the boy off his seat whilst doing so.

"Peter…" he began sweetly.

"Huh?" said Peter who looked completely oblivious.

"Fancy doing a bit of sleuthing?" James said; next to him Sirius was rolling his eyes and groaning with impatience.

"Well… I don't know."

"It'll be fun."

"I'm not sure."

"Come on, I think-" but James couldn't finish his sentence because Sirius had yanked him away from Peter and was already leading him to the doors. There was a faint call of "See you in Potions" before they exited the Great Hall completely, leaving Peter alone with his eggs and bacon and a mildly confused look on his face.

Sirius and James took a while to find the Potions classroom and once they arrived they were in a state of disarray, having just had Peeves pelt dungbombs at them not too long ago. The Potions classroom was located in the lower parts of the school, right down in the dank and unnerving dungeons. James had started to wonder why a school would need dungeons but decided that the less he thought about it then the less disturbed he would feel. Luckily they had found the classroom with time to spare before the lessons began and hoped that the smell of dung wasn't too strong.

As soon as they walked through the door a short, podgy man with a long moustache welcomed them. He was shaking their hands and introducing them to the other people in the room, all of them appeared to be first year students too, before Sirius and James knew what had hit them. They had guessed the podgy man was Professor Slughorn and their first impression of him was of a walking walrus in a waistcoat.

"Ahh James Potter and Sirius Black," Professor Slughorn said, motioning for them to sit down, "I was hoping you'd arrive sooner but no matter, since you're here now would you like a biscuit?" He started passing around a tin full of walrus-shaped biscuits. "These were made by Mrs Donna Torta especially for myself. She owns one of the best wizarding bakeries in Italy. She makes tasty muggle biscuits too, as you can probably tell."

James took a biscuit and bit off the walrus' head. Slughorn was right, they were rather tasty, "Shame about the shape though," he muttered to himself.

"What did you say James?" Slughorn was looking at him now with interest.

"Nothing Professor," replied James, and he quickly deposited the rest of the biscuit into his mouth.

"I use to teach your parents, you know," Slughorn said smiling.

"I never knew sir."

"Quite the gifted witch and wizard," he carried on, "both prefects, your mother became Head Girl and your father was a very talented Quidditch player. I hope to see that gift passed onto you in second year, James." He moved then onto Sirius without giving James a chance to respond.

"Sirius Black," he stated, "I'm rather upset, and somewhat surprised, that you're not in my house, but never mind that. Did you know that your Great-Great-Grandfather, Phineas Nigellus, was once Headmaster of Hogwarts?"

"Yes sir," Sirius said, "though I've also heard that he was the least popular Headmaster of Hogwarts."

Slughorn gave a great guffaw, "Yes, he said so himself. He had little patience for people, most of all youngsters. He was still a great wizard, nevertheless, and a good friend of mine." He turned to the magically powered clock at the back of the room and started with surprise.

"My my, how times flies. Off to your classes now," he said, "Unless you're a Slytherin or Gryffindoor and your next class in Potions." He smiled down at Sirius, James and another boy with black, greasy hair and a hooked nose; throughout James' and Sirius' brief conversation with Professor Slughorn the boy had been looking at them with a barely hidden snarl on his face.

"Oho," said Slughorn and jumped about an inch off his seat, "I've forgotten my papers. I'm just going to go and collect them." And he walked out of the classroom with a tiny skip in his step.

The Slytherin boy continued to snarl and Sirius was beginning to get annoyed.

"What'syour problem?" he finally snapped.

"You're Sirius Black," was the boy's simple reply.

"Your point being…?"

But before the boy could say anything there was a small cough from behind them and Sirius turned to see Narcissa Black standing in the doorway with ever-arrogant figure of Lucius Malfoy behind her. Ever since Sirius met the platinum-blonde teenager at one of his mother's many dinner parties he had instantly despised him. He looked even haughtier now with his Head Boy badge pinned to his robes.

"I thought you would be here cousin," Narcissa said in that all too familiar Black drawl, "I was wondering if you've told you mother about the Sorting yet?"

Sirius stared at her, "I wasn't…"

"Planning to," Narcissa finished, "I thought not." She smiled a nasty smile, "that's why I did it for you. Have a nice day." She then walked away, but Lucius Malfoy stayed behind a while longer. He moved closer to Sirius and scowled down at him with disgust.

"You've brought shame to your family," he whispered so only Sirius could hear then he looked over at the boy with greasy hair, "Keep an eye on him Severus. You owe me," he said and left the room in a flourish of black robes.

-8-

"Mr Lupin would you please pay attention!" demanded the stern voice of Professor McGonagall. Remus jolted up and realised that he had nearly fallen asleep in her class, _which would have been suicide_ – he thought to himself. He murmured an apology and sat up straighter. Once McGonagall was happy with his posture and his alertness she continued with her lecture.

"As you all know by now, from our countless piratical sessions, Transfiguration is a difficult subject that requires a **lot** of concentration and determination. There has only been a fair few of you that have successful transfigured a match into a needle," she glanced pointedly down at a Gryffindor girl with auburn hair, Remus remembered that her name was Lily Evans, "However the most difficult of all the different varieties of transfiguration is Animagus Transfiguration. This is the Transfiguration by which an Animagi transforms into his or her animal form. All Animagus must be registered with the Ministry of Magic with their animal form and specific markings."

McGonagall issued them all with homework ("Read pages 212 to 215 of your textbook and write a ten-inch essay on 'Animagus Transfiguration' to be handed in next lesson") only a few seconds before the bell rang and the students began collecting their together.

"Mr Lupin," she said above the din of the scraping of chairs and the rustling of papers, "I would like a word with you."

Remus nodded and sat back down on his chair. James, Sirius and Peter all gave him a sympathetic look before they left the room. As soon as the classroom was completely empty McGonagall went to shut the door before opening her mouth to speak.

"My Lupin," she said, "Yesterday was Full Moon, was it not?"

"Yes Professor."

"How many Full Moons have there been since you first came to Hogwarts?"

"Yesterday was the third Professor."

McGonagall's expression had now changed to one of compassion and Remus was amazed to see how much kinder it made her look.

"That's is all Mr Lupin," she said. Remus stood up to leave and he was at the door when McGonagall said, "Take care now." Remus turned back and smiled at her, she smiled back.

Outside James, Sirius and Peter were all waiting for him with concern on their faces. James and Sirius had tried to listen through the door but all they could hear was a muffled buzz, they suspected McGonagall has placed a Silencing Charm around the room.

"So how what did she do?" James asked.

"Nothing."

"Really?" Remus' three friends were looking perplexed.

"Really."

"But you nearly fell asleep in her lesson," Peter pointed out.

"I guess she didn't mind."

"McGonagall's getting soft," Sirius said.

"Or maybe she's just got a soft spot for Remus," James said and moved quickly to the side when Remus threatened to shove him. He was laughing and so were Sirius and Peter. Although Remus looked affronted at first he soon melted into laughter as well. He didn't know how many times he had thanked Dumbledore for allowing him into Hogwarts but he knew that it hadn't been enough.

-8-

-8-

AN: Yes a quick update, but don't expect them all to be this fast. I just felt that the first chapter lacked somewhat and it didn't feel long enough. Anyway please excuse my writing skills, I'm a beginner after all and writing fanfiction is supposed to increase my skills. I think I need a lot more practice.

I would love some more feedback please, the good and the bad. These are still just the introductory chapters so bear with me.


	3. Animadverto Sensus

**THREE: ANIMADVERTO SENSUS**

Sirius stared up at the drawn curtains of the four-poster bed; they were nothing at all like the happy red and gold ones of the beds back at his Hogwarts dormitory. The curtains at the ancestral home of the Black family at Number 12, Grimmauld Place were, of course, black, just like everything else in the house. He had never realised how morbidly his mother decorated her home before, it was like the whole house was set up for a funeral, a very grand funeral for a noble, wealthy, influential and slightly stuck-up wizard maybe, but a funeral nonetheless. You also had to act in the house the way you would do at a funeral, with quiet respect.

This was what he'd been doing all his summer holiday, sitting cooped up in his room, staring mindlessly at various things, and daydreaming the time away. That and having to sit through tedious family dinners and uncomfortable silences where his only means of entertainment was bullying their house-elf, Kreacher. But even that lost its novelty after a while, seeing as the damn creature didn't seem to mind being kicked around by the son of the 'Oh So Noble Mistress Black'.

Although there were times of excitement in Grimmauld Place, such as the day after Sirius arrived back for the Christmas holidays and his mother had screamed at him for being a "disgrace to the family", because he was placed in a House "filled to the brim with mudbloods, half-bloods and blood traitors". Sirius' mother had an obsessive affixation with the type of blood people had, she had told him once that it was the only way to determine a true wizard, by the purity of their blood.

His dear mother had now vowed that she wouldn't make the same mistake with Regulas, Sirius' younger brother, and that she would send him to Durmstrang to learn magic.

"Far away from idiotic, muggle-loving Headmasters with dragon dung for brains," she had said when she took them both shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley.

Regulas was her new task. She focussed all her attention on moulding her second son into the perfect, pure-blooded bigot just like herself and his father. She did, nevertheless, cast glances of disdain and dislike in Sirius' direction whenever he was in the nearby vicinity. Luckily for him he had managed to live a sheltered life locked in his bedroom for most of the holidays and only came out for food and sanitation purposes. Though sometimes his mother demanded his presence at dinner parties, mainly to stand there and look good, like a wax statue in those muggle museums.

Sirius sighed and closed his eyes to sleep, he was extremely glad that the next day would be the first of September, the day of the Hogwarts Express, and then, finally, he'd be home.

-8-

"Any of you going to be trying out for the Quidditch team?" James asked through a mouthful of Chocolate Frogs.

Both remus and Peter said "no" almost instantly and Sirius gave a quick shrug. However James Potter was not the type to be disheartened by his friends' lack of interest in the best game of all time and he started talking about the positions he was interested in playing, which incidentally turned out to be all of them.

Peter listened intently to James' one-man conversation. James' obvious enthusiasm and love for the supposed best wizarding sport in the world had always amazed him. Peter had hoped that the flying lessons in first year would have taught him a thing or two and maybe even bring out a sort of hidden ability, but it had made no difference. The chubby boy with mousy hair was still as useless on a broomstick as ever, and he wasn't going to kid himself by trying out for the team.

Remus' reason for not trying out was far simpler: with his condition he was in no state to play any competitive flying sports (in the words of Professor McGonagall). Really he knew she meant that he was too _weak_ to play any competitive flying sports. She was right though and Remus didn't mind, it was not like he had a particularly genetic gift for flying like James had. Quidditch would have been just another weight on his already over-burdened shoulders.

Sirius had no reason to not try out except the fact that there was only one open spot for a second year in the Quidditch team, and that spot was most definitely going to filled by James Potter. Sirius had to admit, though grudgingly, that someone was better than him at _something_. That was the Black in his blood talking; old habits die hard.

James' topic of conversation had now changed from the upcoming Quidditch tryouts to girls. This time Sirius joined in, clearly liking the subject.

"What about Lily Evans?" James said.

"Not you type James," Sirius replied smirking, "Way too cleaver."

"You saying I'm an idiot?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, idiot." At this James hit his best friend upside the head and threw some of his remaining Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans at him. The blue-eyed boy caught the majority of them expertly in his mouth while the others hit a number of new first year Gryffindors on the back of the head. James muttered a quick apology before scowling back at Sirius, who had started talking again.

"What I'm saying," he said, "Is that she's more like… Remus' type."

The sandy-haired boy snapped out of his reverie at the sound of his name and turned to face his friends.

"Hmm?" he said.

"So what do you say Remus?" Sirius asked, he was smirking what was now known as the 'Sirius Smirk' to all of the four boys. "Shall I try and set you up with Lily?"

Before Remus could answer James cut in. "Firstly Lily is mine," he said through a pout, "secondly Remus wasn't even listening to half our conversation, and thirdly… even if he was I don't think Remus is quite _there _yet." He ruffled Remus' hair in an affectionate yet patronising manner.

"Where yet?" Peter said in that oblivious manner of his.

James and Sirius laughed and they took it in turns to ruffle Peter's hair as well.

Remus, however, knew what they were talking about and he wondered at James' words. He was only twelve years old (thirteen in April but that was over six months away) after all. It was not like he found girls icky or anything like he did back when he was five, but like James had said; he wasn't quite there yet.

He yawned and decided now would be a good time for a nap. Remus fell asleep as his eyes closed. James and Sirius glanced over at him with curious and questioning eyes before continuing with their conversation.

-8-

Severus Snape had become Enemy Number One on James' and Sirius' list now that Sirius' cousin, Narcissa Black, and the ever-so stuck-up Lucius Malfoy had left Hogwarts. Severus was the sort of boy that was especially easy to loathe; with his conceited air, his snarl that seemed to be forever planted on his face and his overall not very appealing appearance. He had already been marked as the unpopular one of their year and even his fellow Slytherins disliked him. Now Lucius Malfoy was no longer at Hogwarts to keep an eye out for the greasy-haired boy, Severus had very quickly become a complete social recluse. The only students that ever talked to him, at least in public, were James and Sirius, and their conversations were not of the civil 'how do you do?' kind.

"Watch it, Snivellus." Sirius snarled at Severus when the boy knocked over a phial of Sirius' potion ingredients during a Potions lesson. The silvery contents of the phial spilt over to where Remus, Sirius' Potions partner for the day, was sat, observing the boiling of some Bergamont petals. It was difficult to tell whether the phial was knocked over purposefully or not, but really Sirius didn't care, as long as he had a chance to fight with 'Snivellus' Snape, Enemy Number One.

"Watch where you put your potions, Black," Severus snapped back at him.

Sirius opened his mouth to say something – preferably about how much Severus looked like a greased-up boar – when, at that precise moment, there was a loud thud from somewhere to his left. Sirius turned to see what had made the noise. Lying on the floor, with his eyes firmly shut and shards of the glass from the broken phial beside him, was Remus Lupin in a dead faint.

After the initial stunned silence the whole class gathered round Remus' unconscious bodies with looks ranging from worry, curiosity, and even indifference. Professor Slughorn pushed through the crowd of children; he looked concerned and even, for whatever reason, somewhat guilty. He knelt down beside Remus but the boy did not wake. After what seemed like hours, although it was really just a minute or two, the Proffesor stood back up again and turned to face Sirius.

"Take Mr Lupin up to the Hospital Wing immediately," he ordered the blue-eyed boy. Sirius nodded in reply and, after Slughorn had finished casting a Weightlessness Charm, he bent down to lift up Remus' limp form with gentle consideration. Pushing past the crowd of people he exited the dungeons and made his way to the Hospital Wing in a slight run. Fortunately the school corridors were empty and there was nobody around to wonder why a thirteen year old boy was cradling the limp body of his classmate in his arms.

Madam Pomfrey let out a small yelp of surprise as Sirius burst through the double doors of the Hospital Wing. Sirius did not know what to do. Should he just stand there and wait for Madam Pomfrey to take control of the matter or should he speak first and tell her what had happened? Although he still wasn't completely sure what _had_ happened. Luckily Madam Pomfrey, after seeing Remus' unconscious form, summoned a bed with a whisk of her wand and told Sirius to place Remus upon it.

"What happened?" she asked whilst examining Remus' body thoroughly with that exasperated yet concerned look on her face that Sirius was all too use to seeing.

"I'm not sure," said Sirius. "He just fainted in our Potions Class."

"Did anything happen to trigger it?"

Sirius was about to say no until he suddenly remembered something. "Sniv-Severus Snape knocked over a glass phial only a few seconds before Remus fainted." He didn't see how that would make a person faint, but he supposed that even the smallest detail would help find out what happened to his friend.

"What was in the phial, Mr Black?" Madam Pomfrey's features were now deadly serious.

"I think- I can't remember," Sirius muttered, "but we were working on the Draught of Intuition today."

Upon hearing this Madam Pomfrey murmured something that sounded like, "no wonder there are burns" then turned back to Sirius quickly.

"Tell Professor Slughorn that I wish to see him immediately, and that I don't give a Kneazle's uncle whether he's in the middle of teaching a class or not." She practically shouted those words, her face flushed pink with anger. She ushered – or perhaps pushed would be a better word – Sirius out of the Hospital Wing and shut the door behind him. Sirius ran the whole way back to the Potions classroom.

-8-

Remus Lupin was awoken by the muffled sound of adults talking; one of them being a very irate Madam Pomfrey. Remus could already picture her annoyed expression.

"Horace, I never thought a Professor would be so inconsiderate about one of his own student's well-being," she huffed.

"Poppy, my dear," came Slughorn's voice, "I had warned the boy about the lesson but he insisted on being present, always the studious sort that Remus. It was just his sheer misfortune that the young Mr Snape knocked that phial over."

"Just because a student insists does not mean you should allow him," Madam Pomfrey continued to badger Slughorn. "Even diluted and liquefied silver is still dangerous to a werewolf as young as Mr Lupin."

"That is why I assigned Mr Black to do all the practical work for him," said Slughorn, "and you said yourself, Poppy. They were only minor burns that a healer as qualified as you could mend in a jiffy."

However Madam Pomfrey was not subdued by Slughorn's obvious complement, she was rather the opposite actually. She looked as if she wanted to pull Slughorn's mustache right off his face and the only things stopping her were her good manners and somebody else, a man very much respected in the wizarding world.

"I see Mr Lupin has gained conciousness," remarked Professor Dumbledore with that all too familiar twinkle in his eye. "I hope you are feeling well."

Remus nodded and lifted himself slightly up on his bed.

"Good good. I suspect you feel well enough to go down to the Great Hall and have some lunch with your friends?" he smiled his kindly smile. "They have been rather worried about you."

Remus mumbled a "Yes Professor" and climbed out of the hospital bed. As soon as thanked Madam Pmofrey, who still seemed slightly agitated, and nodded goodbye to Professor Slughorn, he left the Hospital Wing and made his way towards the Great Hall where he hoped his three friends were waiting for him.

After half an hour of pestering Madam Pomfrey to allow them to see Remus, James, Sirius and Peter Pettigrew had finally given up and were now sat in the Great Hall munching on some chicken and ranting tirelessly about their right to see unconscious friends. Sirius had told James and Peter about his brief conversation with Madam Pomfrey and how she had muttered something about burns and they were all pondering as to _why_ Remus had fainted in the Potions class, which had been cut fifteen minutes short – to the joy of the students (except perhaps Snivellus) – but Professor Slughorn still assigned them an essay about the Draught of Intuition for homework – much to their dismay. It was Sirius who noticed a tired and weary Remus walk through the grand doors of the Great Hall, the anxious frown on the blue-eyed boy's handsome face melted away.

When Remus caught sight of his three friends sitting along the Gryffindor table, he smiled and sauntered up to them. They all greeted him happily and budged up on the bench to allow Remus to squeeze in next to them.

"We tried to go see you," James said once Remus had made himself comfortable, "but PomPom wouldn't let us in." PomPom was James' nickname for Madam Pmofrey, and it fit the healer quite well. James had always been the one in the group who thought up the nicknames for various staff and pupils; he was very proud of his creations. "We had to just wait here for you instead. You 'kay now?"

"Of course," Remus said, "or I would still be up in the Hospital Wing.

"What exactly happened?" Peter questioned timidly.

Remus gave a casual shrug. "I fainted," he said simply and helped himself to some lunch. The three other boys glanced at each other for a moment before they too continued with their lunch. There was no point pressing the matter any further because, after knowing Remus for over a year, they could tell that the sandy-haired boy would not give them a straight answer no matter how much they pried. Nevertheless Sirius Black and James Potter decided to make it their sworn duty to figure out Remus' secret. Once they've finished their lunch, of course.

-8-

It had been almost a week since the great Potions lesson faint and Remus Lupin was having yet another one of his check-ups with Madam Pomfrey, leaving James, Sirius and Peter to toil over their homework without his studious aid. The three boys were now trying their best to complete the essay assigned to them by Slughorn in the largest handwriting they could muster. Sirius leafed through the pages of his copy of _Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger trying to find the page on the Draught of Intuition. He thought it unfair that Sluggy (yet another one of James' professor nicknames) had given them homework on a potion that was not even fully completed during their lesson.

"It's page 406," said a voice from behind him making him jump. Sirius peered over his shoulder to see a haughty looking Lily Evans standing behind his armchair with her arms crossed.

"What's page 406?" Sirius said bemused.

"The passage about the Draught of Intuition," Lily replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Thanks but I didn't need your help to find -"

"Lily Evans!" James interrupted, sitting up in his armchair and abandoning his homework. "What do we owe the pleasure of your acquaintance to, my dear lady?"

Lily rolled her eyes and did not bother to reply to James' question. "Where's Remus?" she asked instead.

"Having one of his check-ups with PomP- I mean Madam Pomfrey," said Peter over a pile of parchment.

"Oh," Lily murmured, then she spoke up again, "Well when he comes back tell him that I'm done reading _Hogwarts: A History_ and he can have it back." With that she walked away and returned to her group of chattering friends.

"She's so thoughtful," James said with a sigh and a look of forlorn love as soon as Lily was gone. Peter gave off a nervous laugh and Sirius shook his head and smiled at his best friend's folly. He turned to page 406 in his textbook and read what was written there.

Then Sirius stopped reading.

"What's the date today?" he asked in a rush to no one in particular. James was the one that answered.

"22nd of October, why?" he said.

"Read this." Sirius shoved the textbook into James' hands and signalled Peter to come over as well. James raised his eyebrow questioningly but did as Sirius told him.

_The Draught of Intuition (also known as _Animadverto Sensus_) allows the drinker to gain an increased instinctive belief and knowledge on a certain event or thing without any proof or reasoning. This instinctive belief comes in the form of a prophetic dream which lasts approximately ten minutes. It is a far milder and also less precise version of _Felix Felicis_ and is therefore a lot easier to brew than the previously mentioned N.E.W.T. level potion. The main ingredients of _Animadverto Sensus_ consists of the herbs Bergamont and Solomon's Seal, both also used as Divination herbs, and the metal silver, preferably liquefied..._

"I don't understand," Peter said as he finished the paragraph; James nodded in agreement to the mousy boy.

"That was what was in the phial that Snivellus spilt on Remus." Sirius pointed to the word _silver_ on the page.

"Liquefied silver? But that doesn't -" James' eyes widened and he stood up, so suddenly that Peter fell to the floor with a thud, and looked down at Sirius. "You said PomPom said something about burns."

Sirius nodded.

"And you asked me what the date was," James continued, on a roll. Peter was now sat on the rug rubbing his sore rear.

Sirius nodded again. "You said it was the 22nd of October," Sirius added.

This time is was James that nodded as he riffled through the heaps of parchment on the floor. He let out a small cry of "Oho" as soon as he found the one he wanted. James threw the piece of parchment over at Peter and Sirius; on it were his Astronomy notes titled _The Lunar Phases_.

-8-

"I don't believe he's a-a-"

"A werewolf," Sirius finished off Peter's sentence. After the first initial shock of discovery Sirius had hoped that James, or even Peter, would prove him wrong. That they would tell him that he had an overactive imagination due to eating far too many Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans. But they didn't. They just muttered mild disbelieving yet believing words, and neither of them said his theory was all Balderdash. Really all the clues fitted together perfectly like an intricate jigsaw puzzle. There were Remus' monthly check-ups with Madam Pomfrey where he would stay in the Hospital Wing the whole night and miss lessons the next day. There were the scratches and scars on the young boy's torso and virtually everywhere else on his body too. Remus never carried any Sickles around with him; he always paid with Galleons (if he ever had any) and Knuts. Sirius remembered trying to give Remus some Sickles for the sweets on the Hogwarts Express but Remus had refused; he had thought it then as good old-fashioned politeness, although some of it may have been. Then there was Slughorn's Potions lesson incident and Madam Pomfrey's words of "no wonder there are burns". If it weren't for the stupidity of adults than Remus would have been able to continue his lie for Merlin knows how long. Sirius wasn't sure whether he was glad or not.

"It's pretty cool now that I think about it," said James, intruding on Sirius' inner soliloquy.

"What?" Sirius spat rudely. "Having a murdering monster that feeds on human flesh as a roommate?"

James was slightly taken aback by Sirius' cutting remark. He didn't think that Sirius would be so… so… _(So much like the rest of his family)_. "No," he said, "having a murdering monster that feeds on human flesh as a _friend_."

"But he's a w-w-werewolf," Peter stuttered.

"Only once a month," James reasoned, "otherwise he's just like you and me."

"He's nothing like me," Sirius said, "HE'S A MONSTER." He had enunciated each syllable with a mixture of hatred, fear and something else James couldn't quite pinpoint.

"You know what Remus is like; he wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Maybe it was all an act," said Peter.

"Oh not you too, Peter?" James said, crestfallen. "Listen. Why would Dumbledore allow something dangerous in his own school?"

"Because he's an idiotic, muggle-loving Headmaster with -" Then Sirius stopped. He had just been reciting, word for word, what his mother had told him so many times before. He felt sick with disgust, disgust at himself. _I will never be like my mother,_ he thought to himself, _never_. He looked up at the shocked faces of his friends and he noticed how strange it was that only two pairs of eyes stared back at him, Remus' eyes were not there. "I'm sorry," he said in barely a whisper.

James gave him a sympathetic look with a hint of a smile on his face, it was almost fatherly.

"I think we should go pay little Remy a visit tomorrow morning," he said, his smile had now grown.

"What?" both Sirius and Peter said in unison.

"We should tell wolfie boy that we know his secret now and that there is no need to hide anymore, at least from us anyway."

Sirius shook his head but not in a way that meant he was against James' idea. "But Madam Pomfrey won't let us in the Hospital Wing to see him."

"We won't go to the Hospital Wing to see him." James was now all out grinning.

-8-

-8-

AN: I am proud of this chapter, wanna know why? Well it is RESEARCH baby. Yup I researched a lot on various magical properties of herbs and metals. Silver is truly a metal that supposedly increased intuition as well as the metal of the moon (no duh). However during my research I found out Sirius' eyes are grey and not blue. I take creative license and say that Sirius' eyes were blue when he was younger.

Reviews, as always, very welcome. Oh and by the by I would like beta readers so if you're interested in the job please email me (email can be found on my profile).

And the story begins….


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